Road-cart



(No Model.)

G. W. PAYNE.

ROAD CART. No. 357,501. d Feb. 8, 1887..

, l qlbbnaogeq Quinn V602 51% ozmu o thills can-be varied to cause the body to as fully described andclaimed.

NITED STATES PATENT GFFICE.

GEORGE WARREN PAYNE, OF LITTLE NECK, NEW YORK.

ROAD-CART.

ESPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 357,501; dated February 8, 1887.

i Application filed November 23, 1 886. Serial No. 219,662. (No modelJ To all whom, it may concern:

Beit known thatI, GEoReE WARREN PAYNE, a citizen of theUnited States, residing at Little Neck, in the county of Queens and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Road-Carts, of which the following is a specification;

My invention relates to improvements in road-carts; and it consists of the peculiar combination of devices and novel construction and arrangement of the various parts for service, substantially as hereinafter fully described, and particularly pointed outin the claims.

Heretofore it has been proposed to provide a road-cart or two-wheeled vehicle with a transverse spring-bar which is affixed to the lower side of the body, and to pivotally connect the rear ends of the thills to the said spring-bar and to the body at an intermediate point of their length, so as to obviate the objectionable jarring motion of the thills from becoming communicated to the body.

I am also aware that it has been proposed to provide an intermediate coupling-bar betweenthe rear of the thills and the spring-bar, so that the elevation of the rear ends of the sume a horizontal position, but the method of coupling the said intermediate bar to the spring is objectionable, because of the factthat the spring-bar is liable to be twisted to a greater or less degree by the vibrating motion of the thills on the coupling-bar, which consequently unduly strains and weakens the spring-bar. In my improved road-cart I propose to provide this intermediate couplingbar, which is to be pivotally connected at its lower end to the transverse spring or'springbar so as to move or swing at right angles to the vertical plane of movement of the said spring, and thereby prevent the coupling-bar from twisting the spring, all as will be more In the drawings hereto annexed, whichillus- .trate a road-cart or two-wheeled vehicle embodying my improvements, Figure 1 is a side elevation. Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view. Fig. 3 is a detached perspective view of the intermediate coupling bar or rod and a portion of the spring and thil1-iron which is connected thereto. Fig. 4 is a detail view of the couplings for the thills to the body.

Referring to the drawings, in which like letters of reference denote corresponding parts in all the figures, A designates the axle of my improved road-cart or two-wheeled vehicle; B, the carrying-wheels, which are fitted upon the extremities of the axle in the usual manner. The body 0 of the vehicle or cart is provided in its sides,at or near the middle thereof, with transverse aligned slots 0, through which the axle A passes, and between the body and the axle are interposed springs D, which are suitably secured to the body at the sides thereof and to the axle, so as to cushion the body and give an easy and resilient motion thereto. The body is free to vibrate or move up and down, and the axle works in the slots in the sides of the body, which are of sufficient size to permit the body to have the necessary freedom of movement.

E designates ablock, which isrigidly affixed to the under side of the body of the vehicle in front of the axle thereof, and to this block is rigidly affixed a transverse spring or springbar, F, the bolts or otherdevices which secure the said spring or spring-bar to the block being passed through the middle'ot' the spring and the block to secure both the spring and 1 block to the body of the cart. The spring is thus arranged beneath and out of contact with the body of the vehicle by which it is carried, and the ends of the spring are thus free to vibrate vertically without coming in contact with the body of the vehicle and-without hinderance therefrom. The ends of the spring or springbar are extended slightly beyond the vertical sides of the body of the cart or vehicle, and to these extended ends of the spring are connected the lower ends of vertically-disposed coupling-bars G, which are adapted to swing or move in a plane at right angles to the line of movement of the said spring, and with the same, as the coupling-bars are attached thereto. Thelower ends of these coupling-bars are each pivotally connected by a transverse pin or bolt to a segmental plate, 9, the ends of which are fitted on opposite sides of the ends of the spring, and through the lower terminal ends of the diverging arms of the coupling-plate are formed transverse eyes 9, which align with corresponding eyes formed in the outer end of the spring-bar, so that a transverse pivot-bolt, 9 can be passed through the said aligned eyes to pivotally connect the coup1ing-plate, the bar pivoted thereto, and the spring or springbar together, to adapt them to be moved vertically at the same time, and yet permit the coupling-bar to swing in a different'direction with the thill-iron and without affecting the proper vertical movement of the spring or spring-bar, thereby relieving the spring of all undue twisting and straining, and very mate; rially increasing the durability thereof.

H designates the thills, which are curved downwardly, as at h, and these curved ends of the thills are extended in rear of the frontend of the body of the cart, so that they can be easily connected with the coupling-bars. The thills are connected together and braced at an intermediate portion of their length by means of the usual tie-bar, h, which is secured in the opposing sides of the thills at points where the downwardly curved portions h commence. The thills are pivotall y connected with the body of the cart, at the front thereof, by means of intermediate shackles or couplings, Lwhich are rigidly affixed to the body and the tie-bar of the thills and pivotally connected together, as shown very clearly in Fig. 4 of the drawings. The shackles or couplings are located at the front end of the body, within thesides thereof, and between the said body and the tiehar connecting the thills.

J designates the thill-irons, which are rigidly aifixed to the under side of the thills by means of bolts or like securing devices, and

the rear terminal ends of the said thill-irons are enlarged to provide or form the integral heads j, which are bifurcated, as shown, to form the arms j, through which are formed transverse aligned openings that are adapted to coincide with oneof aseries of openings, 9 formed in the coupling-bar, a pivot-bolt, J, being passed through the aligned openings in the head and the coupling-bar to pivotally connect the thill-iron and the coupling-bar together.

This being the construction of my invention, the operation of the same is as follows:

' \Vhen the vehicle is in motion, the thills vi brate up and down, the couplings or shackles serving as the pivots or center of motion of the said thills, the front and rear end of the said thills on opposite sides of the shackles moving vertically under the jogging motion of the draft-animal. As the thill'irons are pivotally connected to the coupling-bars, the latterare swung backward and forward slightly with the said irons, and the lower ends of the coupling-bars being connected with the spring through the intermediate segmental plates, the free ends of the latter are moved vertically with the thill-irons and the couplingbars. The strain and twist on the spring or spring-bar is relieved by the c0upling-bar moving on its pivot back and forth with the proved road-cart or two-wheeled vehicle of simple and durable construction, in which the horse-motion is entirely overcome, the body is insured an easy-riding motion, and which can be easily adjusted.

I have an application pending, which was filed January 7 1886, that shows the links connecting the ends of the thills and the springbar.

Having thus fully described my invention,

what I claim as new, and desire to secure by .Letters Patent, isa 1. Ina road-cart, the combination ofa body, the transverse spring F, connected to the body, the plates 9, pivotal] y connected to the terminal ends of the spring, and the coupling-bar G, having the rear ends of the thills pivotally connected to the same and pivoted at their lower ends to the said plates 9, to move vertically with both the spring and thills, and also back and forth with the thills only at right angles to the vertical movement of the spring, substantially as described, for the purpose set forth.

2. In a road-cart, the combination of the body having the transverse aligned slots in its sides, the axle passing through the said slots, the carrying-wheels, the springs interposed between the body and the axle, the fixed block on the under side of the body in front of the axle, the transverse spring arranged in front of the axle and rigidly afiixed at its middle to the block, and thereby arranged below and out of contact with the body to insure free vertical movement to the ends, the thills pivotally connected to the body at an intermediate point of their length by the couplings or shackles, and the coupling-bars pivotally connected to the rear ends of the thills and the terminal ends of the transverse spring, substantially as described, for the purpose set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE WARREN PAYNE.

Witnesses:

HOWARD SUTPHIN, N. VAN ANTWERP. 

